Dealing Drugs and Cards
by Balin Lord of Moria
Summary: Our two favorite police detectives from L.A. give some counseling to two former criminals who once served, but later testified against, the Death Angel! It's always nice to see some crooks reform themselves. Two-shot.
1. Dealing Cards

**Dealing Cards**

* * *

Sergeant Joe Friday played his next move in a friendly card game of Hearts with his partner Bill Gannon and the overweight young man with the mustache seated with them. "It sounds like you were in a rather lucrative business, Mr. Roberts," he said to the fat man.

"Yes," said Woody Roberts, former contact man for the Death Angel's back room gambling at the Hotel Delphoria, "It was relatively easy for him to lure me in. I wasn't happy with my salary as the hotel's cocktail lounge bartender, and I've always loved to play cards and other gambling games in the past, and I guess he played on that."

"Sounds pretty dangerous to me, too," said Bill Gannon. He won this round of Hearts. Woody shuffled the cards for another game. "You know, getting involved with illegal gambling not only got you in trouble with the law, but it could have gotten you in financial trouble, too, and maybe this Jessie Bains would have taken your home, your fortune, and even your family from you, and perhaps even your own life."

Woody felt like he did when he was called to testify against his former employer. "It just seemed so fun at the time, playing cards for money and introducing other, tougher boys to the gamblers in the back room. I thought I knew what I was doing, because one only needs a little knowledge, and a little willpower, to resist addiction to gambling, and anyone with a college knowledge of casino games is capable of knowing what to do in tight situations."

"I'm not so sure that's true, Woody," said Friday. Woody looked at him.

"What do you mean, Officer Friday?" he asked.

"I've looked into what kind of upbringing you had," Friday said, "It was rather soft and peaceful, and your family pampered you a great deal. I don't think a person like you would have been prepared for the consequences of prolonged gambling, especially in the majority of the country, where it's not legalized. Police officers like Sonny Bonds and Lieutenant James Morgan know this Bains character better than Bill and I do, but based on what we know about most tough gamblers, Bains would have considered you expendable sooner or later, unless you proved to be an elite employee, and even elites are considered a danger to people like him. He would have paid you well for a while, then cast you off and leave you hanging out to dry, or he'd outright kill you. Gambling is not something to be taken lightly, Woody, especially if you plan to do it on a regular basis."

Woody stared at his hand for a moment. Then he said, "I know what I have to do. I got this same rap from the judicial and police systems when I turned states evidence and testified to Bains' gambling activities. I do want to reform myself; I'm just not sure of the right way to do it."

"Well, if you want my advice, Woody," said Friday, "you need to learn more about the rough parts of gambling in this country. Some illegal gamblers do some really terrible things in the name of their bets, from the underground mob to dog fights, and I heard that you're a man who loves dogs and puppies. You wouldn't want to get involved with a dog fight game, would you?"

Woody shuddered. "No, of course not," he replied.

"So I suggest that you wake up and see what else you can do to entertain yourself with in your life," said Friday, "After all, we're playing Hearts right now, and that's a card game that has nothing to do with gambling. There are plenty of other good games to play, too, with cards, dice, dominos, and darts, among other things, where the players don't gamble. And since you lost your job as the Hotel Delphoria's cocktail lounge bartender, you might want to look for a new business that straight and legitimate, or join a more selfless organization, if that's the direction your life takes you."

"And I could suggest that you try making a confession of your crimes and sins to a clergyman of whichever religion or spirituality you were brought up in," said Gannon, "Unless, of course, you've always been an atheist or an agnostic."

"I was brought up Catholic," said Woody, "I suppose I could see a priest if I have to."

"We're not necessarily saying you _have to_," said Friday, "We're just saying that if you were ever spiritual or religious, it might be a good idea to try something like that."

Woody thought about it for a moment. "All right, then, I'll try everything you policemen asked me to try," he said at last, "After all, what have I got to lose, except my soul? And I don't want that to happen. I didn't intend to break away from sweet Jesus or anything when I got involved with Bains. I just want to be a better person again, especially after all the undeserved kindness Officer Sonny Bonds showed me during his operation in the Hotel, and later, at the trial of Bains."

Friday and Gannon smiled. "Well, I can see we're not wasting our breath, are we, Bill?" said Friday.

"I don't think so, either," said Gannon. "Believe us, Woody Roberts, Joe and I aren't like some cops who get a thrill out of putting people behind bars to rot. We like it even better if some criminals repent and make up for their crimes."

"Thanks, that's good to hear," said Woody. He grinned suddenly. "Now, why don't we stop talking about this serious stuff for a little while and continue to play cards while we've still got time?"

Friday and Gannon glanced at each other. "That's fine with me," said Gannon.

"Same with me," said Friday.

"Okay, I think I won this hand," announced Woody.

Gannon chuckled a little. "Looks like you keep being the loser tonight, Joe," he cracked.

Joe Friday looked at his remaining cards. He shrugged. "I am just getting started, partner," he said confidently.


	2. Dealing Drugs

**Dealing Drugs**

* * *

A few days later, the two old police partners were in Steelton, NM, watching the employees of Colby Imports moving around crates and boxes full of imported goods, while white-collar men and women walked from office to office on their errands.

"It's a nice little business you have going here, Mr. Colby," Gannon said to the middle-aged man seated at the company president's desk.

"Thank you, Officer Gannon," said Don Colby, another former employee and testifier against Jessie Bains. "It certainly has its charms as well as its utilities. The offices, including my own, have the nicest tile floors, art on the walls, and mahogany desks. It's quite exquisite, in my opinion."

"Yes, we hear that you have a taste for the finer things in life," said Friday, "It certainly is a good business, nice and legit. But being the cops that we are, Bill and I are aware that your history includes some time as a drug pusher for that criminal named Jessie Bains. It seems that you wanted to get some of your 'finer things in life' through making children and teenagers suffer through the addictions of dope."

"Uh, yeah," said Colby, "But can you do me a favor and not talk so loudly about it? I don't want my employees to get any wrong impressions about me!"

"All right, we'll keep it down," Friday agreed to do, "But as an officer of the law, I do wonder, why would you get involved with drug pushing under that psychopath Bains? What was in it for you?"

Don looked nervous and a little embarrassed. "Well, I guess that I had been hoping for a nice, big yacht, and for some expensive, fancy suits with which to wow the guys and please the ladies. I heard once that one drug lord in a movie wanted to retire after he made enough money selling drugs, and buy himself a little island. I wondered if that was possible, too."

Friday and Gannon looked thoughtful. "Sounds like the typical kinds of things a drug boss would be after if he's dealing drugs for a living," remarked Gannon.

"Yes," agreed Friday, "and I've never liked it. Mr. Colby, have you ever seen what these drugs, like coke, crack, grass, and PCP, do to the people who inhale them, touch them, or taste them?"

Don thought about it for a moment. "I know that they get an exciting buzz from the scent. And I know that the side effects kill the poor kids."

Friday sighed. "I'm afraid there's a lot more to narcotics than that, Mr. Colby," he said. "Drugs don't just suck the ability to stay alive out of their victims. They make their victims unable to cope with life, what life they have left. These drugs, particularly PCP and crack, are so addictive that a user loses control of his or her bodily functions if they go through withdrawal. Sometimes, even their eyes don't focus properly. And besides that, their prolonged use strips their victims of their convictions in life, and even their identities as people able to become the next generation of good citizens in America. Even if they get help from caring people in time, they have to go through so many exercises to get the monkey off their back, from having restless night's sleeps to drinking orange juice by the quart."

"Now, sometimes, they grow up to become adults. But only a handful usually recover enough to be perfectly sane, clear-headed adults able to live normal lives by the time they reach that age. What happens to most of the others? They spend their spare time always looking for things that they can't get anymore because their drugs were the only things that provided those things for them. The line between reality and fantasy is more blurred for them than it is for the most psychotic man or woman. They live in their own little fantasy worlds, always wandering about, searching for that next fix, never resting until they get it, which is usually never again, anyway."

Don Colby listened to this whole story carefully as Gannon nodded along with Friday's statements.

"And evidently, your life was surrounded by greed and promises of wealth and treasures beyond reckoning, which could be achieved either the hard, but right, way by working for a living to get it, or through the easy, but wrong, way of lazily pushing medical poison on gullible youths who just wanted to get the best out of life," said Friday, "I think maybe you need to see for yourself what your poisons and those of your former boss have done to so many innocent people. Why, I even heard that one of the victims who died of a drug OD around the same time you were arrested was Kathy Cobb, the teenage daughter of Police Officer Jack Cobb. And I don't imagine old Jack holds any love for you or your former kind, nor does anyone else who lost a son or a daughter to Jessie Bains."

Colby, they noticed, was fighting to hold back tears of shame by now, but at least one tear came out, anyway. He wiped it away and composed himself before any of his co-workers could notice that something was wrong, and said in a shaky voice, "You're right. You're absolutely right. I guess I have been too greedy, and I've played a false image of a tough guy with the people I'm around all day. But no one ever taught me about the greater details of the evils of dope when I was young. I knew it was harmful, but I didn't know it was _this_ harmful."

"Well, we all learn something new every day," said Gannon, "Even Joe and I do, sometimes. But the fact that you're showing remorse proves that it's not too late to reform yourself."

"Absolutely, Don," said Friday. "I suggest that you look into something somewhere that shows the true nature of illegal drugs, and find out for yourself what kind of harm you caused. Then, maybe you can go make your confession to whoever you believe in or whoever counsels you in your life, and perhaps you can be a better person."

"Yeah," said Don gratefully, "I'll keep all of that in mind. Heck, maybe if I can find a club that fights the dealing and using of drugs, maybe I can make my confession there and tell the others there how wrong it is to deal drugs to make big money."

"Sounds like as good a place to start as any to me," said Friday.

"I agree," said Gannon.

"Now, is it all right if I finish giving you cops the rest of the tour through Colby Imports?"

"We still have some time on our hands," said Friday, "It would be a pleasure."


End file.
